in brief

Aghaz e Dosti, Lowkey Lokai and Hum Sab Aik Hain are going to stage a demonstration against enforced disappearances outside Lahore Press Club at 3pm on Saturday (today). A Supreme Court bench consisting of Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan, Justice Maqbool Baqar and Justice Faisal Arab is hearing cases involving missing persons. At the last hearing, secretary of the Inquiry Commission on Enforced Disappearances informed the court that the commission had disposed of 3,000 cases and 1,577 were still pending. The participants in the protest demonstration will raise voice for human rights worker Raza Khan who has been missing since December 2. According to the organisers, Raza Khan’s disappearance is a manifestation of administrative incompetence and lethargy and helplessness of the judicial system. –Staff Reporter

Introductory ceremony of first novel titled ‘Taus Faqat Rang’ by short story writer Neelam Ahmed Bashir will be held today at 3 pm in PILAC Punjabi Complex Qaddafi Stadium. The chief guest will be Yasmeen Hameed. Ghulam Hussain Sajid, Hussain Majroh, Amjad Tufail, Zaheer Badar and Ghafar Shahzad and renowned actress Bushra Ansari will especially participate in the function.–PR

Canadian Sikhs visit culture institute

A delegation of Canadian Sikhs visited the Punjab Institute of Language, Art and Culture here on Friday. The delegation members appreciated the Punjab government and the Institute for rendering services for promotion of Punjabi language and culture. Director General of the Institute Dr Sughara Sadaf briefed the delegation about the working and activities of her organisation and showed them different sections. The visitors hailed the preparation of Punjabi dictionary by the Institute under the direction of Punjab government. Dr Sughara Sadaf presented Punjabi books to the members of the delegation, which had been published by the Institute.–APP

­Traffic Response Unit in action

The City Traffic Police have introduced Traffic Response Unit to facilitate the masses. The unit, consisting of 14 inspectors and 300 wardens, will facilitate motorists to ensure smooth flow of traffic on The Mall, Jail Road, Ferozepur Road, Canal Road, Allama Iqbal Road, Maulana Shoukat Ali Road and Main Boulevard Gulberg. The basic duties of these traffic officers will be facilitating public in case of any accident, car repairing, ensuring ban of wrong parking, removal of encroachments. Reiterating his forces resolve to serve the public, CTO Chief Traffic Officer SSP Rai Ijaz Ahmad said the police introduced this unit with existing resources. He said that citizens can get any type of help through helpline, website, radio, Rasta App and social media.–PR